Agitator and lock therefor



192 1508,841 Sept 16 4 C. E. FARRINGTON AGITATOR AND LOCK THEREFOR FiiedJan. 23, 1924 if; I M u a H i I: 1 1 p Patented Sept. 16,

CHARLES FARRINGTON, OF PHOENIXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

AGITATOR AND LOCK THEREFOR.

Application filed January 23, 1924. Serial No. 687,966.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. EARRING TON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Phoenixville, in the county of Chester and State ofPennsylvania. have invented new and useful Improvements in Agitators andLocks Therefor of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to devices for stirring or agitating thecontents of a tank, barrel or other closed receptacle such asexemplified in Letters Patent ot the United States No. 1,336,830,granted to me on the 13th day of April, 1920.

T he object of the present invention is to provide means for effectingthe operation of the agitator blade, which means may also serve as aclosure -for the opening in the barrel or receptacle; to provide a lockfor said means; and. also to provide an effective device for securing anoperating handle to the tank or closure for shipment therewith. Themanner in which. the objects are attained and an embodiment of theinvention are herein illustrated and described and particularizcd in theclaims hereto.

()n the drawings, I

.Figure 1 illustrates in section a portion of a container equipped withone embodiment of the invention, the parts with the. exception of thestirrer blade and the handle being shown in section.

F i gur-e. 2 represents a perspective view of a bung or closure whichperforms the tunetion of closing an aperture in the container and oftransmitting power to the agitatorr stirrer blade.

Fiu'urefi represents a locking novice by which the bung or closure ishelc against rotation and an operating handle is secured to thecontainer.

Figure 4: represents a handle which may be employed for rotating thebung or closure.

Figure 5 rep-resents a perspective view oi the container with the partslocked. ready for shipment.

Before. describing in detail the c'levicer which are illustrated by thefigures thus briefly referred to, I desire to have it understood thatthese devices constitute but one embodiment of the invention and thatthe invention is capable of various other embodiappended ments withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof as expressed in the claims.

In Figures 1 and 5, I have conventionally illustrated at 10 a containerwhich may take the form of steel or other metal drum or barrel having ahead 11. This drum or barrel may be of any convenient shape or form andmay be made of any suitable material. It is provided with a centralaperture through which a stirrer blade such as indicated at 12 may beintroduced, and this stirre* blade may be of the form and shape and mayfunction as set forth in the said Letters Patent hereinbetorereferredto. It will, of course, be understood that there be used in lieuthereof any other suitableform of agitator or stirrer which be found tobe desirable for the purpose of mixing, stirring or agitating thecontents of the container. The head of he container is provided with aninternally-threaded aperture 13. If the head of the container is 01relatively thin metal, this threaded aperture may be form d'in ametallic annulus or ring 14: placed in a suitableaperture formed in thehead 11 and secured thereto by any suitable means as by welding, brazingor the like. In such latter case, the ring is of suiiicient lengthaxially to provide a threaded portion sufficient for firm threadedengagement therewith of the bung, closure or coupling member by whichpower is transmitted tothe stirrer blade for the operation thereof. Thiselement in the present instance may take the form of a substantiallycylindrical member 15 having an external threaded portion 16 which maybescrewedinto the threaded aperture in the container. On its inner orlower end said member 15' is providedwith two jaws 17 for engaging theupper end of the stirrer blade 12. These jaws form a socket into whichthe end of the stirrer blade projects and it is of course apparent thatthe socket may be otherwise made so as to permit of a slid ingengagement between the stirrer blade and the men'iber and at the sametime to permit the rotation of: the stirrer blade when the said. memberitself is rotated. Preterably the threads are so termed on the member 15and in the wall of the aperture in the container head that the clockwiserotation of the said member 15 withdraws it or moves it outward fromthe-aperture to a position as shown Figure 1, whereupon the continnedrotation of the said member merely eifects the rotation of the stirrerblade. if desired, the said member 15 may be provided with anon-threaded portion 18, which, when its threaded portion is out ofengagement with the threads oi the aperture, may extend into saidaperture so as to steady the member during its rotation.

For the purpose of effecting the rotation of the operating couplingmember or bung 15, any suitable handle may be employed. I have shown,for example, a handle comprising a bar 19 having at one end the lugs 20,20 like those of a spanner which may be introduced or inserted intoapertures 21, 21 formed in the head or outer portion of the member 15.At its other end the bar is provided with a crank 22, which if desiredmay be equipped with a rotatable sleeve Inasmuch as the member 15 andthe handle may be easily detached, it is desirable to provide some meansfor locking them so that the container and the member just described maybe shipped as a unit. For this purpose, I may employ a locking r ng asillustrated in Figure 3 and as indicated at 2a. This locking ring ispreferably formed of some suitable relatively-ductile' metal providedwith a series of lugs 25, 25, 25, 26. One or more of these lugs may beinterlocked with the bang or coupl ng member 15 and the other with thehead of the container. Of course the number of the locking lugs isimmaterial, two being suflicient for the purpose. For example one of the1 lugs as at 26 may be forcibly bent so as to extend into a socket 27formed in any suitable way in the head of the container, whereas anotherof the lugs may be forcibly bent upwardly so as to extend in any one ofaseries of notches 28 formedin a peripheral flange 29 on the head end ofthe coupling member 15. Preferably the lugs 25 are un equally spaced,whereas the notches 28 are equally spaced; so that, in screwing thecoupling member home into the threaded aperture in the head of thecontainer, one of these notches may be brought into alinement with oneof the lugs 25 and the lug then bent into or he in the notch which re;therewith. The ring itself may serve as a gasket, or, if desired, asuitable thin gasket may be placed between the ring 24 and the head ofthe container,in this case the annulus 14:.

In order that the handle may be secured to the container, the ring 24may be provided with an extension 30 which is so curved, as shown in thedrawings, as to extend over tl e body of the handle and clamp 1t tirmlyagainst the container head 11. In Figure 5, the container shown readyfor shipment, the handle being clamped against the head thereof and thecoupling member being locked to the head all by means of the ring memberThe person receiving the tank, by a suitable implement such for exampleas a screw driver or cold chisel, may bend the lug 26 out of engagementwith the socket 27 and bend the locking lug out of engagement with itscomplemental notch 28; and then, either by means of a spanner rotate thecoupling member 15 anti-clockwise so to release the handle 19 or by theimplement previously used by him bend the clamping member 30suiliciently to release the handle, whereupon the handle itself may beemployed in rotating the coupling member clockwise. This has the effectof unscrewing the coupling member to the position shown in Figure 1,whereupon the continned operation of the handle effects the continuedoperation of the stirrer or ag1- tator.

lVhat I claim is 1.. A combined closure and coupling meina her for acontainer having means for engaging an agitator, and a locking ringadapted to secure said member against removal, said locking means havingmeans for engagement with the container and said member.

2. A combined closure and coupling member adapted to be screwed into athreades aperture in a container and having means for engaging anagitator, and a lock adapted to be located between the container and,said member and having lugs for engaging said container and said member.

3. T he combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in, said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator, said coupling member having a recess, and a lockencircling said member and having lugs for projection into said recessesin said coupling member and said container.

4. T he combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent r cess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid, agitator, and a, gasket having means for locking said couplingmember to said container to prevent said member from be ing unscrewed.

5 The combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator, a detachable handle for operating said coupling member,and an annulus having means for locking the handle, when detached, andsaid coupling member to said container.

6. The combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator, a detachable handle for operating said coupling member,and an annulus between the closure and the container and having lugs forengagement therewith, and provided with a clamp for securing thedetached handle to said container.

7. A combined coupling member and closure, having a threaded portion toengage a threaded aperture in a container and having a notched head, anda lock adapted to encircle said member and to lie under the headthereof, said lock having lugs adapted to engage said notch and also arecess in the container.

8. The combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator, a detachable handle for operating said coupling member,and a locking annulus having lugs adapted to be bent into engagementwith the recesses in said container and coupling member and having anextension for securing the detached handle to said container.

9. The combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator and having a notched head, and a locking ring adapted toencircle said coupling member and to lie between the head thereof andsaid container, and having lugs adapted to be bent ,into engagement withthe said notched head and with the recess of said container.

10. The combination with a container having a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of a combinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator and having a notched head, a locking ring adapted toencircle said coupling member and to lie between the head thereof andsaid container and having lugs adapted to be bent into engagement withthe said notched head and with the recess in said container, adetachable handle for operating said coupling member, and a clamp forsecuring said handle, when detached, to said container.

11. The combination with acontainerhaving a threaded opening and anadjacent recess, and an agitator in said container, of acombinedcoupling member and closure screwable into said opening and engagingsaid agitator and having a notched head, a locking ring adapted toencircle said coupling member and to lie between the head thereof andsaid container, and having lugs adapted to be bent into engagement withthe said notched head and with the recess in said container, adetachable handle for operating said coupling member, and a clamp forsecuring said handle, when detached, to said container, said clamp beingformed on and projecting from said locking ring In testimony whereof Ihave aflixed my signature.

CHARLES E. FARRINGTON.

